Built By Ballymore

The broader picture is more modest. Across 17 races in total, it has won twice and finished in the places four more times — a win rate of around 1 in every 8 or 9 races. Its first win came at Limerick on 28 December 2023, followed by a second at Punchestown just over a month later on 29 January 2024. Then the wins stopped. It has now gone 6 races without finding the winner's enclosure, and that Punchestown success is now 26 months in the past. The recent form figures — a third, then a ninth, then a fourth, then three blanks — paint the picture of a horse that is competitive enough to place occasionally but hasn't quite found a way back to winning.

Jockey J J Slevin has been the regular partner, riding Built By Ballymore in 8 of its 17 races and winning once together — which mirrors the horse's overall rate exactly. The partnership works, but it hasn't yet unlocked anything extra. The horse is trained by Martin Brassil at his yard in Dunmurray, Co Kildare, a stable that has sent out 10 winners this season and clearly knows how to get horses ready to run. Brassil will know better than anyone that the key to getting the best from this horse is simple: find the right race when the ground is properly soft and heavy.

Last seen in action just eight days ago, Built By Ballymore is clearly being kept busy. At eight years old, the horse is entering the phase of its career where the yard — sorry, where the team — need to be selective, placing it on the right days rather than just keeping it ticking over. A wet week and a sharp eye on the entries could be all it takes to remind people what this horse looks like when everything falls its way.